Whew! News-heavy week here at the Food Blog! Today, let’s look at some newly released info about Hacienda de San Angel, the newly renovated restaurant opening in September in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion! Here are some great pics of the Hacienda de San Angel slide presentation given at the D23 Flowers and Fireworks event this past weekend. These were taken and donated by Lori Abramson — Thanks, Lori!

Hacienda de San Angel Intro Slide

Hacienda de San Angel will be opening with a bang in September 2010! What’s the “bang,” you ask? Illuminations, of course! The restaurant is ideally situated to offer incredible (and coveted!) views of Epcot’s nightly Illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show. And with the addition of the table-service part of the restaurant, those ADRs might be tougher to get than Le Cellier for around 8:00pm every night!

Here’s an aerial image of what the restaurant looks like, under construction, right now. You can see how fantastic that view is going to be once it’s finished! Check out that outdoor, circular patio!

Aerial View of Hacienda de San Angel

The restaurant will have a whole new “backstory,” and a new service structure, which will allow the restaurant to operate as [Read more…]

OK, you’ve booked this Fall’s free dining package and now you’re not so sure which table-service spots deserve the credit (pun intended!)? Below are my top picks for best value in the “one table-service credit” realm of Walt Disney World restaurants.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Disney World offers a vacation package add-on called the Disney Dining Plan. This works a lot like your meal plan when you were back in school — you pay a set price in exchange for a certain number of credits. Each table-service restaurant meal in Disney World is worth a certain number of credits, the vast majority of them being worth one credit. In this post, I’m describing my picks for one-credit table-service restaurants that offer the most bang for the Dining Plan buck*.

Le Cellier Poutine, with gravy on the side

Le Cellier

This one’s a no-brainer. Le Cellier Steakhouse is far and away one of the most popular Disney World restaurants at the moment, its reservations slots are full months in advance, and it offers some incredible food and service.

With dinner entrees running between $20 and $37, and desserts averaging [Read more…]

One of Disney World’s most beloved counter service restaurants isn’t actually a Disney restaurant at all — it’s part of a chain of sandwich shops called Earl of Sandwich! We still love it, though, and couldn’t wait to highlight it here on the blog.

Atmosphere
Located in Downtown Disney’s Marketplace, Earl of Sandwich is a restaurant wrapped up in a history lesson. As the story goes, John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich in England, invented the sandwich as an easy, eat-on-the-run (or while playing cards) meal. Today, the 11th Earl of Sandwich and his family have taken the name to new heights by developing Earl of Sandwich stores and selling high-quality, delicious sandwich varieties along with fresh [Read more…]

One of the newer snacks available in Disney World is the paw print brownie, which you can find in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Once there, head up to the Africa section of the park — tucked back into Harambe village, next to Tusker House Restaurant, you’ll find Kusafiri Bakery!

Kusafiri Bakery in Disney's Animal Kingdom

Kusafiri used to be part of the Tusker House Restaurant, but with recent renovations, it’s taken its own tiny little piece of real estate. And to create an even more significant stamp of independence, it’s developed three incredible and exclusively sold snacks: the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake, the Zebra Cupcake (which we’ll be highlighting on the food blog in the near future), and today’s decadent snack — the Paw Print Brownie:

There are lots of Disney World dining spots that are well-known to Disney-goers. Everyone knows about Cinderella’s Royal Table and Chef Mickey’s, right? But there are also a few hidden gems of which you may not have heard! One of these great little spots is Contemporary Grounds, located in Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

Ordering and Serving Area

While the Magic Kingdom bakery is sure to have a line out the door every morning, Contemporary Grounds (just a short walk away from the Magic Kingdom) offers similar coffee drinks and pastries, minus the line! (It’s also a great way to convince your spouse to go check out the new Bay Lake Tower Disney Vacation Club property…)

Contemporary Grounds Menu

Situated in the lobby of the resort, right next to the entrance to the Conference Center (natch), sits unassuming little Contemporary Grounds. The area is bright, sunny, and surrounded by comfy couches and chairs for relaxing. This makes it a perfect place to kick back for a mid-afternoon rest — you’re still close enough to the park to get back for the 3:00pm parade! Best of all? No reservations necessary!

Contemporary Lobby Seating Area

Now, doesn’t that look more comfy than fighting for a table outside the Plaza? Enjoy!

“Once again getting to the restaurant early, we were definitely the FIRST people there (and this might have been unfortunate). I have heard of the great show the waitstaff puts on, but I was a bit disappointed. The show couldn’t really begin until the restaurant filled up a bit more, and as it was 7:50am, things weren’t as rowdy.

(Interestingly, I overheard one waiter “breaking character” to ask about the time. When her co-worker responded “8:15,” the waiter replied “Oh…I’m ready to sing, and we have to wait 30 more minutes.” I’m guessing this means that if you have a later reservation, you may get a better show, as waitstaff aren’t allowed to get loud until after 8:45 due to sleeping Wilderness Lodge Resort guests!)

Dining Room

While Whispering Canyon has a nice-sized menu for breakfast, we decided to go for the Canyon Skillet, which is all-you-can-eat scrambled eggs, biscuits, potatoes, bacon, sausage, gravy, and mickey waffles for $14.99.

OJ a la Jam Jar

All You Can Eat Skillet

It was good, standard breakfast food, but it wasn’t refilled as much as our ‘Ohana breakfast servings and the Mickey waffles arrived a bit cold. The food was fine, though I would definitely rather go to ‘Ohana for breakfast.

Plate With Mickey Waffle

Additionally, though we’d been looking forward to the Whispering Canyon’s rowdy reputation, our waiter was not that “entertaining.” While other waitstaff seemed much more “awake” (throwing straws and rounding up the ketchup), our waiter was pretty low-key. I’m sure that if I hadn’t been expecting a rowdy atmosphere I wouldn’t have been disappointed, but we were really hoping… .

In the end, I might go back for a different meal (lunch or dinner); and while I may go back for breakfast again, I found it just “OK.” I enjoyed ‘Ohana much more.